The experts and politicians got it wrong, even as many regular Canadian Citizens were warning of the danger.
We have been repeatedly told to ‘trust the experts,’ and ‘trust the government’ amid the CCP Coronavirus Pandemic.
Yet, that trust has been hard to come by, because the ‘experts’ and politicians keep getting it wrong.
And now, federal documents reveal how badly the top level of government failed us:
“Briefing notes prepared by bureaucrats for federal ministers show just how quickly the COVID-19 situation evolved in Canada — with public health officials stating the risk of transmission in Canada was low right up until early March, only to recommend an ordered shutdown of economic life in this country some two weeks later.”
To get a sense of the staggering incompetence and failure, consider that – even as people like me were calling for China flight restrictions in JANUARY – the government was still saying the risk was “low,” in MARCH:
“A March 10 department-drafted briefing note prepared for Health Minister Patty Hajdu ahead of question period said that, with just 12 cases being reported nationwide at that point, “the risk of spread of this virus within Canada remains low at this time.” The note also said the public health system is “well-equipped to contain cases coming from abroad, limiting the spread in Canada.””
Pathetically, even the corrupted WHO was better, claiming in late January that there was a “high risk” at the “global level.”
On January 19th, officials were disputing the idea of person-to-person transmission, despite clear evidence this was occurring in China:
“Based on the latest information that we have, there is no clear evidence that the virus is easily transmitted between people,” a Jan. 19 briefing note prepared for Hajdu said.”
Hajdu also had talking points, claiming it was “next to impossible” to stop the spread of the virus into Canada because of “global travel.”
“What really counts is limiting its impact and controlling its spread once it gets here,” the talking point reads.
And – as we already knew – the ‘screening’ at the airports was non-existent trash:
“While there were information booths at major Canadian airports starting on January 21, the decision to collect personal contact information from inbound Hubei travellers was only made on Feb. 19 — information that could then be used by public health officials to follow up with people if an outbreak emerged.”
As you very well know, February 19 was way too late.
Of course, the government later did exactly what they said was “next to impossible,” banning travel from around the globe, shutting Canada’s borders.
When Trudeau made that move – in late March – he said it would “save lives.” So, if it would save lives in March, it obviously would have saved lives in January – far more lives.
And here’s the most horrific part:
“The government relied on individuals to self-report to Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers if they were experiencing flu-like symptoms, long after temperature monitoring measures were commonplace at airports in Asia.
Between Jan. 22 and Feb. 18, 58,000 travellers arrived in Canada from China — 2,030 of them were coming from Hubei province.
Only 68 were pulled aside for further assessment by a quarantine officer and only three passengers were actually flagged for a medical exam — the other 65 passengers were sent away with a pamphlet.”
This means the government straight up let the virus into the country, even though they could have stopped it.
The government also claimed “there is no ability to enforce or ensure compliance” with mandatory quarantines – despite the fact that other countries manage it, and despite the fact that Canada has a military for situations like this.
Instead, the government went the voluntary route, which failed miserably.
In short, this was a failure across the entire federal government. A failure by the ‘experts,’ and a failure by the politicians like Hajdu and Trudeau to question the experts and have even the basic intelligence to realize that the experts had been wrong repeatedly and that there were examples of countries like Taiwan that used border shutdowns and ruthless airport screening to stop the virus.
When this crisis is over, Canada will need to have a discussion about the incompetence of our leaders, and have a real look at future measures to bring in real, meaningful punishments for failures that cost lives.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
